Vacheron Constantin expands the Overseas 35 mm line with its first fully gem-set references, the Overseas Self‑Winding High Jewellery in 18K white gold and 18K 5N pink gold, elevating the maison’s sport‑chic travel watch into full‑blown haute joaillerie without abandoning everyday functionality. These two models sit at the intersection of integrated‑bracelet versatility, contemporary case proportions and high jewellery craft, with 1,430 diamonds per watch and a manufacture automatic calibre designed to be seen through a sapphire back.
The 35 mm Overseas case, introduced in 2023 as the compact option in the collection, proves an ideal platform for a fully paved high jewellery execution that remains wearable on a variety of wrists. The new references, 4617V/215G‑H039 in white gold and 4617V/215R‑H040 in 5N pink gold, are engineered around a mechanical, self‑winding movement with date, easy‑change bracelet and straps, and a water‑resistance rating that keeps them in the daily‑use Overseas family rather than relegating them to the safe. Each watch is delivered not only on a diamond‑set gold bracelet but also with shiny alligator‑leather and rubber straps on an interchangeable, diamond‑set pin buckle, underlining the intended flexibility between city formality and relaxed wear.
The dial of the Overseas Self‑Winding High Jewellery is built as a jewelled surface first, a display second, yet retains the clear legibility and layout expected from a contemporary Overseas. Time and date are reduced to essentials: central hours, minutes and seconds, with a date aperture, floating visually above a snow‑set diamond field that covers the entire gold dial base.
A total of 314 brilliant‑cut diamonds, with a guaranteed minimum of 1.65 carats, are set in snow style, using stones of differing diameters placed to minimise visible metal and create a continuous, irregular scintillation that reacts dynamically to light. Twelve baguette‑cut diamonds, totalling 0.32 carats, serve as hour markers, introducing a crisp, linear contrast to the granular brilliance of the background and echoing the baguette geometry of the bezel. The hands for hours and minutes are fashioned in gold and enhanced with blue Super‑LumiNova, preserving low‑light legibility despite the fully gem‑set context and reinforcing the watch’s membership in a travel‑oriented sports line.
The date display is integrated via an aperture, avoiding sub‑dials or auxiliary scales that might disturb the continuity of the diamond surface, and ensuring that the information density remains in line with a three‑hand daily‑wear watch rather than a complicated jewellery piece. The overall impression is of a compact, shimmering dial that still reads quickly at a glance because of the clear separation between luminous hands, baguette hour markers and the high‑contrast date window.
At the heart of these Overseas High Jewellery models beats the manufacture self‑winding calibre 10881, a compact automatic movement with central seconds and date specifically configured for the 35 mm architecture. The calibre measures 20.8 mm in diameter, stands 3.83 mm high and is composed of 144 parts, operating at a frequency of 4 Hz, or 28,800 vibrations per hour. It offers an approximate 40‑hour power reserve and uses 24 jewels, aligning its performance profile with contemporary expectations for a slim, time‑and‑date automatic engine.
The movement drives hours, minutes, central seconds and a date in an aperture, and is fitted with a stop‑seconds mechanism, allowing the wearer to halt the seconds hand for precise setting to a reference time. This detail pushes the calibre away from the generic jewellery‑watch trope and into the territory of practical, synchronisable timekeepers that can hold their own in a modern collection.
Visible through the sapphire crystal back, the calibre 10881 receives a level of decoration consistent with the Overseas line and Vacheron Constantin’s broader standards. Bridges are adorned with Côtes de Genève and feature bevelled edges, while the mainplate presents a finely finished surface, all arranged to catch light under the oscillating mass. The rotor itself is a 22K gold component, specific to the Overseas collection, decorated with a compass rose motif that references travel and orientation, and offers both visual weight and efficient winding. Together, the finishing choices and open caseback make the mechanical side of the watch as much a part of the experience as the external gem‑setting.
The Overseas Self‑Winding High Jewellery references adopt the collection’s 35 mm case size executed entirely in precious metal, either 18K white gold or 18K 5N pink gold, with a thickness of 8.43 mm that keeps the profile relatively slim, especially considering the fully set bracelet and bezel. The case construction retains the signature notched bezel formed by Maltese cross‑inspired flanks and integrates a screw‑down crown, delivering water‑resistance tested to 5 bar, or around 50 metres, which is notable for a watch with this level of gem‑setting.
The bezel is one of the technical highlights of the exterior, carrying 60 baguette‑cut diamonds totalling 2.28 carats, invisibly set to create an unbroken line of stones that appear to float without visible metal between them. In invisible setting, the gem‑setter first prepares a grid of gold rails as thin as 0.2 to 0.4 mm, cutting precise V‑shaped grooves along the sides of each baguette so they can slide into the rails with tolerances as fine as 0.02 mm, resulting in a perfectly level and continuous surface. The remainder of the case carries a mix of polished and gem‑paved surfaces, with a total of 158 diamonds for 3.31 carats distributed between the bezel and case in each watch.
The integrated bracelet, in matching 18K white or 18K 5N pink gold, is fully snow‑set with 884 brilliant‑cut diamonds for 6.95 carats, each link being set individually before assembly so that articulation and comfort are not compromised by the stones. As with other Overseas references, an easy‑fit system is built into the bracelet, allowing the wearer to make micro‑adjustments for comfort and to switch quickly between the precious‑metal bracelet and the supplied straps without tools.
Each watch is delivered with a glossy alligator‑leather strap and a white rubber strap, chosen to shift the character of the watch without reducing its jewellery presence. The white gold model is paired with a bright blue alligator‑skin strap, while the pink gold version receives a fuchsia alligator strap, with both also accompanied by a white rubber option for a more casual or weather‑resistant configuration. The interchangeable 18K gold pin buckle is itself diamond‑set with 62 brilliant‑cut stones totalling 0.33 carats and can be swapped between straps, maintaining visual continuity across all wearing options.
Across case, dial, bracelet and buckle, each Overseas Self‑Winding High Jewellery reference carries a total of 1,430 diamonds, for a minimum guaranteed weight of 12.58 carats. Despite this loading of stones, the watch keeps the recognisable Overseas silhouette, complete with the Maltese cross‑derived bezel geometry and strong integrated‑bracelet lines, simply reinterpreted through a full high‑jewellery lens.
The Overseas Self‑Winding High Jewellery 35 mm captures a particular strand of Vacheron Constantin’s history: the long‑running dialogue between jewellery craft and watchmaking that stretches back to pendant watches of the late nineteenth century and Art Deco ladies’ wristwatches of the 1920s and 1930s. By internalising the gem‑setting know‑how within its own workshops, the maison has been able to design the stones as structural elements of the watch rather than superficial accents, a philosophy that is fully realised in these fully paved Overseas references. In today’s environment, where boundaries between formal and informal wear have softened, a fully diamond‑set integrated‑bracelet watch no longer belongs solely to high occasions but can credibly exist as an everyday companion for collectors who appreciate both the tactile comfort of a modern sports‑chic case and the intensity of high‑jewellery craft. These Overseas Self‑Winding High Jewellery models, in white or pink gold, deliver that duality with a coherent technical package: a finely finished, modern automatic calibre with stop‑seconds, practical water‑resistance, a robust quick‑change system and exhaustive gem‑setting executed with evident care for alignment, proportion and wearability.
